Rendition claims
January 13, 2012
British police are to investigate claims that the country's secret services were involved in the rendition and subsequent ill-treatment of two opponents of Moammer Gadhafi's regime.
The allegations concern Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, now Tripoli's military commander, and another Gadhafi opponent, Sami al-Saadi.
Scotland Yard said the allegations were "so serious" that they should be subjected to a criminal investigation and not wait for a government-ordered inquiry.
Belhaj claims that he was tortured and interrogated by "foreign agents" in Libya after he and his wife were arrested en route from exile in Beijing to Britain in 2004. Belhaj says his pregnant wife was also abused.
"I trust the police will get to the bottom of this, and find not just the rank-and-file agents, but those minister who were truly responsible for her suffering," Belhaj said.
"To this day, I cannot understand why my pregnant wife was put on the same plane and abused as well."
Al-Saadi was reported to be claiming damages from the British government for his rendition. He alleges that British agents helped detain him in Hong Kong in 2004 and return him to Libya, where he was subjected to years of torture.
Messages of support
Documents unearthed during the fall of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, have shown close working ties between Gadhafi's spies and Western intelligence officials.
They allegedly contain references to both Belhaj and Saadi, along with messages of support for their renditions.
The news of the investigations come as prosecutors say they will not be bringing charges against British agents in two other similar cases, including the torture of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed.
Insufficient evidence
Mohamed, an Ethiopian-born British resident, was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 by United States authorities. He claims he was flown to Morocco and ill-treated for 18 months, before being transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp via Afghanistan.
A Scotland Yard investigation found there was "insufficient evidence" that British agents knew he was at risk of torture.
Another case involved a man held by US authorities at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Investigators say they also failed to find sufficient evidence of British agents' complicity in torture.
An inquiry was ordered in 2010 by Prime Minister David Cameron into allegations that British agents were involved in the ill-treatment of terror suspects overseas after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The so-called Gibson Inquiry has yet to start work and may be delayed further by the current criminal investigations. It is to look into claims made by former Guantanamo detainees and those concerning Libya.
Author: Timothy Jones (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Nancy Isenson